


A Public Act of Sharing

by putthebottledown



Series: Coming To The Stage... [1]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, because it will get crazy up in here, i'm talking ''THE DOCK IS TOO FULL; WE CAN'T FIT ALL THESE SHIPS HERE'' levels, watch out for ships in the future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-01
Updated: 2013-03-01
Packaged: 2017-12-04 00:20:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/704317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/putthebottledown/pseuds/putthebottledown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Les Amis (& co.) are a group of Los Angeles-based stand-up comedians.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Public Act of Sharing

**Author's Note:**

> mostly just exposition for the rest of the work; hang in there, champ.

To the layperson, the Musain seemed entirely unremarkable. Just a shabby little club nestled between two Chinese buffets, each of which proudly boasted twin C's as their sanitary inspection grades from their front windows. Passersby only glanced its way when a particularly jarring roar of laughter could be heard as from somewhere within, and even then, none thought to actually investigate; a run-down comedy club with a two drink minimum simply wasn't worth the time.

But to the people sitting beyond the club's dilapidated facade, the Musain was a refuge. Struggling stand-up comedians- or performers, as some preferred- met nightly with their sycophants, their support, their family. To the club's tight-knit community of comedians and patrons, the Musain was everything.

Though many comedians who passed through did just that- pass through- the club had become quite well known for its own self-contained subset of the Los Angeles comedy scene. This measly group was comprised of the club's only routine performers and a few of their dearest companions:

Combeferre, a man of a particularly dry sense of humour who was known for having his comedic timing down to a precise and exact science; Courfeyrac, a young, curly-headed ball of absurdism who bounded across the stage and spoke with an air of confidence unknown by most comedians; Jehan, the resident musical comedian, known for pairing his poetic jests with the soft, melodic plucking of a mandolin; Joly, a wisp of a man who stammered out self-deprecating jokes and regaled the audience with stories from his weekly therapy sessions; Feuilly, an ambitious young comedy writer with aspirations to retire from the stage and move on to writing for television, who often read from a notebook he had been filling with jokes for years; Bahorel, by far the most rugged of the group, practically tearing laughter from the audience as he recounted past bar fights and jokingly tried to instigate new ones- though some questioned just how joking this was; and finally, Grantaire, the Musain's veteran comedian, a sardonic man to whom nothing was holy.

With Combeferre came his childhood friend, Enjolras, who by the looks of it had never so much as told a joke in his life. He sat amongst the clutter of chairs and tables each night, clapping respectfully after each joke, chuckling lightly if he was in a particularly good mood, and scowling through all of Grantaire's flippant jokes about his own alcoholism regardless of what sort of mood he was in.

Shortly after his first stint at the Musain, Courfeyrac had started to bring tagalongs of his own: his roommate, Marius, an earnest boy who could often be found staring longingly at the stage, and Marius's girlfriend, Cosette, an amiable young woman whose soft, joyous laugh sounded frequently and charmed all of the comedians onstage.

Bossuet and Musichetta, a prematurely balding young man and the ever-smiling woman always found on his arm, had taken to the Musain alongside Joly. Each and every Friday night, the pair dragged a set of chairs as close to the stage as they could manage and waited patiently for Joly's set to begin, at which point they would whistle and catcall at the stage between his jokes. A proud grin spread across each of their faces any time the pallid man onstage blushed brightly at their words, and they could be seen after each of his sets huddled close to him just off the side of the stage.

Rounding off the group was Eponine, the club's bartender. Each comedian was allotted two free drinks each night they performed, leaving Eponine more time with each them than she'd like most days, but even she couldn't deny the fondness she had developed for each of them over time. She had their drink orders memorized and was careful to always have them ready by the time they left the stage, even sneaking them a few extra drinks if they had had a particularly rough night. Beyond that, she looked after them; she put on quite a show of grumbling about pesky, unreliable, downright dumb comedians under her breath, but really, she actually quite liked dragging Grantaire backstage and settling him on the couch for the night after he passed out by the bar, and pulling Bahorel off hecklers, luring him away with the promise of a fifth of whiskey. If they were a family, Eponine was the begrudging big sister, whom they all adored.

But then, there really was no question as to whether or not this group was a family. They looked after each other, workshopped bits together, cheered raucously for one another, and, when it came down to it, they loved each other. Feuilly, who had no family, found that he didn't need one when he sat at Combeferre's side backstage, poring over the notes he had been given on his last draft of his newest pilot. Grantaire, who had no home, hadn't slept on the streets in years, thanks to the various roommates he had scattered about the city. Cosette, who had been the very definition of lonely as a child, was now overwhelmed by just how many people cheerily greeted her and pulled her into a hug whenever she and Marius arrived. Each of them benefited simply from knowing one another, and though their dynamic was nothing special in the comedy underground, none of them could quite bring themselves to take that fact to heart.

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to formally apologize for all the feelings I have about comedians and their found families.
> 
> first companion mix: http://rwantsthed.tumblr.com/post/41720796277/les-amis-stand-up-au-inspiration-part-one
> 
> title from a Jay Sankey quote, "Stand-up is a public act of sharing, between an individual and a group."


End file.
